


Strays and Wolfsbane

by Owls_Teddies_Confetti_Oh_My



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Catwoman Has a Sidekick | Catlad | Stray (DCU), Bad Parents Jack and Janet Drake, Black Selina Kyle, Bruce Wayne Tries to Be a Good Parent, Does Jason Todd Live?, Good Parent Selina Kyle, It's super minor tho this ship aint sailing here yo, Jason Todd is Robin, Minor JayTim mention, Multi, Stephanie Brown Needs a Hug, Stephanie Brown is Spoiler, Tim Drake is Catlad | Stray, Trans Tim Drake, also the BatCat is implied, if you have a problem with THAT last tag then straight fight me, if you have a problem with that last tag then fuck off, if you have a problem with this tag then just leave man, who knows im mostly winging this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:21:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25867351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Owls_Teddies_Confetti_Oh_My/pseuds/Owls_Teddies_Confetti_Oh_My
Summary: Selina Kyle is a good person deep down and Tim Drake needs help learning how to live.Pamela Isley loves only three things in this world and Stephanie Brown needs someone to care.Stray and Wolfsbane are probably the only costumed kids in Gotham that are actually somewhat emotionally stable.~~~~Or, an Elseworld-esque AU where Tim runs away a Drake and then becomes Stray and then Steph dies as Spoiler but comes back as Wolfsbane. Expect slow updating because man this took me a while to actually write.
Relationships: Arthur Brown & Stephanie Brown, Callie Evans & Tim Drake, Past Tim Drake/Ariana Dzerchenko, Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake, Tim Drake & Ariana Dzerchenko, Tim Drake & Sebastian Ives, Tim Drake & Selina Kyle
Comments: 6
Kudos: 96





	1. Runaway Kitten

**Author's Note:**

> Please forgive my awful knowledge of actual Comic continuity. Everything I know, I know from Comicstorian, Comics Explained, the DC Fan Wiki, and fanfiction. Lots of fanfiction.

The report had read as followed:

Timothy Jackson Drake, 10 years old, has gone missing. Apparently no one had seen him for more than 8 weeks. The last time that he was seen was by one of the maids in his home on the 8th of last month. Timothy had been seen in bed by the staff at around 11 p.m. just before the late night staff retired. According to the witness statement, the young Drake Inc. heir was sound asleep with the covers pulled up to his head. The next morning, at around 6 a.m., found the bed empty and staff scrambling to find the boy in the mansion before his parents were phoned at 6:45 a.m. The police were called by the Head of Staff at 1:55 p.m. the following day and a missing persons report was officially filed. Mr. Drake and his wife were unavailable at the time as they were still out of the country for a dig for another 3 weeks. They had been gone for a month and a half before the disappearance. After three days with no contact from any potential kidnappers and surveillance videos showing no signs of suspicious persons on the premises along with a lack of forced entry in any possible opening into the mansion, it was concluded that this was a case of a runaway. Search parties were assembled and the boy’s face was plastered on fliers all throughout Gotham. By the time that Timothy had been missing for a whole 10 days, the searches were called off and a memo was sent out to neighboring cities and even across state borders. The memo was a call to keep a lookout for possible signs of Timothy Jackson Drake, 10 years old, 4’5”, 66.7 lbs, black hair, blue eyes, white caucasian boy. 

After that, the memo goes on to iterate all the proper procedures of contacting the GCPD and the list of numbers to call in case of questions. The report also ends at about the same time, with the added note that local known vigilantes Batman and Robin were apparently also on the case. Any information from either caped crusader was to be brought straight to Commissioner Gordon. 

His gum popped as he finished skimming over the file on his computer screen, exiting from the file and stopping the program he was using to mask his presence on the police servers after he had completely left them. He placed his computer on the coffee table in front of him, running his right hand over the soft fur of a sweet tabby that had taken a liking to him about a year ago when he first started to hang out in the main safe house of the infamous jewel thief and cat burglar, Catwoman. Another cat jumped up onto the seat he was in, a deaf tom with fur like sugar and eyes the color of bluejay feathers. His left hand curled under the tom’s chin and his fingers worked up a purr from the feline. 

The boy looked up when a deft hand placed a mug of steaming liquid in front of him. He watched as Selina Kyle, a dangerous woman with eyes a brown so deep and rich they reminded him of a particular pair of hessonite garnet earrings his mother owned, lay herself down on the couch to his side. She curled up on the comfy leather, legs pulled up beneath her and nursing her own cup of tea. The boy reached for the cup, took a slight sip, and smiled at her softly.

“So, what do you want to do, Timmy?” Selina asked casually, her burning eyes looked into his own. 

Tim felt a sting of jealousy as he looked her in the eyes. His own were always this dull blue that looked near lifeless. A side effect of never having much to really live for besides a hopeless bid for the attention of people that never cared. He also just really didn’t like the color blue. It felt too cold, too impersonal. He preferred reds and oranges and browns; colors that made him feel like he’d burn himself if he got too close. Colors that were alive. He smashed his jealousy down for a bit. Maybe he could get contacts later.

“I think I want to change my look. Maybe some contacts?” He lets his hand linger on the tabby’s back a bit as he spoke. 

“Maybe hair dye? I always thought I’d look cool as a blond.” He joked and Selina spared him a wry smile. He liked her smile.

“Well, I guess some rearrangements in the looks department might be in order… Hm, no hair dye, I get the feeling that your scalp is too sensitive for that. We’ll need to get you a new identity if you plan on making this little foray of yours permanent, kitten.” Tim nodded at her words as she hummed. He was already thinking of ways to pay her back when it hit him.

“I can access my family’s bank accounts. I know all the security codes and how to bypass the confirmation texts they send to phones. I just need to find a VPN.” He said as he pulled up his laptop, setting his mug to the side. Selina looked him over with a raised brow. He glanced at her and realised that she was probably wondering why a 10 year old knew all of that. Tim coughed into his fist with a slight flush to his cheeks and shrugged.

“It got boring on my own all the time. I kinda just started to teach myself about computers cause that’s all I could do.” Between all the frivolous music lessons and language tutors that his parents threw at him whenever he got too clingy for their tastes. If he had to learn stuff in place of spending time with his mother and father then he at least wanted it to be things he was actually interested in. Coding and hacking and information gathering was kinda fun, really. He once managed to wire money from the account of one of the rude rich ladies from a gala he had to attend last year into the account of a random woman in the Narrows. Exactly 150,000 dollars had been wired through a series of fake accounts and seldom used offshore vaults and into the checking account of a single mother of three that was struggling to stay just above the poverty line. He had smiled so genuinely from that little bit of Robin Hood-ery he pulled; once when he saw how pissed that lady had been that the money she had been stashing away for a girl’s getaway to the Bahamas was basically stolen and the police couldn’t trace it and when he had been doing his nightly round of Bat and Bird watching and saw a woman crying joyous tears as she hugged her neighbor and spoke in hushed Spanish about a mysterious money transfer that gave her enough to pay the rent for a year in advance and keep food stocked in the fridge for just as long while she looked for a new line of work that didn’t involve seedy clubs and a racist manager.

But that’s getting off track. Selina watched as Tim let his hands fly over the keyboard, the keys melodic in their sound and Tim concentrated on the screen as he worked his way into the bank accounts of his parents and separated several small amounts from the savings and checking vaults that were under their names. He made sure that the money all went through the same confusing wiring he used last time. Made sure to switch up a few accounts, made some new fakes and finally settled nearly 1 million into the myriad of accounts Catwoman had set up for herself. He grinned as he closed his laptop and looked to Selina.

“Congrats, Cat! You’re now a whole million dollars richer.” The woman looked at him in surprise and he just beamed. Her lips curled in a smirk and she placed her mug down, nearly half empty, and reached out to pat Tim’s head softly. He felt his heart skip a beat and he had to hold himself together as he eagerly drank in the affectionate gesture.

“That was sweet of you, Timmy. Thank you for that.” Selina purred and Tim just flushed, his mouth opening and word vomiting before he had a chance to stop himself.

“It was nothing, I mean, I just wanted to pay you back for everything you’ve done for me so far and besides faking identity paperwork and all that is expensive and-” A slender finger to his lips cut him off.

“Tim. You don’t need to repay me for anything. I mean it, I do what I do for you because I like you kid. Never feel like you have to give me something in return just because I helped you out of a shitty situation, okay?” She looked at him, waiting for him to respond. But it was as if Tim had forgotten how to breath. He looked at this woman, someone he knew for just a little less than a year now, and decided then and there that he would never leave her for so long as she wanted him by her side. He swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded slightly at her.

“Sure.” He agreed and she smiled. It lit up his world and for just a second, even though he couldn’t see it, his icy blue eyes burned with life. Selina relished in the sight before sitting back. She nodded to his mug as she took hers from the coffee table and Tim took his and drank it quickly. 

The liquid was lukewarm now but he didn’t mind it much. Easier for him to drink it down. He wasn’t a fan of tea but Selina was fond of it. Really he preferred hot cocoa but he couldn’t bring himself to ask for it.

“So, contacts?” He asked, to get away from the previous topic and Selina grinned.

“Of course. What color would you like?” Tim thought about that for all of .0000002 seconds.

“The same as yours.” He said and she looked taken aback. He flushed and rushed to explain himself.

“If I had an eye color similar to yours it can be used to help us make the cover story more sound.” Tim said hurriedly. Selina looked at him, silently urging him to continue. The ten year old went on. 

“Okay, so, like, it’d be weird if Selina Kyle suddenly took in some random kid that kinda looked like the missing Tim Drake. So, we gotta make it not weird and it’d be really not weird if instead of some random kid, I was like your nephew. We just gotta fake some documents naming me your sister’s son.” He knew it was a long shot, considering her sister was a nun. Maybe they could pass him off as a kid that Maggie took care of? An orphan that Selina got attached to?

Selina seemed to be considering the idea and nodded. “Mags is a nun but we can always pass you off as one of the boys from the monastery. She could vouch if we tell her the full story.” 

Tim nodded, a small grin stretching on his face. Then Selina smirked. “You do know Maggie isn’t my blood sister, right?”

Tim flushed because of course he knew that. It wasn’t too hard since they didn’t share a trace of resemblance with one another. The kid looked down, finally noticing that the white tom had left his grasp and the tabby was replaced by a smokey furred kitten that mewed at him with glimmering amber eyes.

“Yeah… I just really like your eyes. They’re pretty.” He finally admitted and to his surprise, Selina merely smiled in a way that showed she was flattered.

“Thanks, Tim-cat. You can have brown eyes, it’ll just help distance you from your old self.” Then she paused.

“What name do you want to use for yourself?” Selina asked as she looked at him. Tim shrugged.

“I like Tim. I mean, I chose it. I wanna keep Tim.” He nodded and that was that.

“But I didn’t choose Jackson as a middle name. My… Jack made me use it when he redid my paperwork since, uh, Janet still wanted me to have a middle name.” He scrunched up his nose when he spoke their names, like they tasted bad on his tongue and Selina’s eyes took on a sad light when he did.

“So no Jackson. Do you want a middle name?” Selina asked and Tim mulled it over for a moment before shrugging.

“Won’t really matter but maybe….” He trailed off and he glanced at Selina. She simply nodded at him.

“Maybe you could give me one? If you want?” He said, feeling embarrassment creep up his skin and settle in his cheeks. The woman thought about it and let out a soft sigh that sounded like a laugh.

“I always did like Seth. Or, maybe, Sebastian?” She smiled at Tim and he just grinned.

“Timothy Seth Kyle. I like it! Maybe my last name prior to adoption could be something like, uh, um…” Tim flushed redder. He was terrible with names.

Selina laughed and shook her head. “How about Jones. Timothy Seth Jones as the fake original name and then change it to Timothy Seth Kyle for the real bit.”

Tim smiled and nearly bounced in his seat with excitement. The gray kitten mewled and climbed his shirt, apparently wanting to get in on the action. His heart was pounding and he couldn’t believe it. Finally! He was going to be able to really start living. The ten year old reached a hand out to Selina and she took it, soft and tender in her hold. It was a sharp contrast to the way his mother would hold his hand. Selina’s brown skin was warm and he could feel the life of her blood pulsing through her veins just under her palm. His mother’s hand was pale and cold, like that of a ghost or corpse; absolutely lifeless. Something inside breathed a sigh of relief that he would never have to deal with that ever again.

Selina nodded and finally looked over to the clock on her wall. It was a cartoony thing, the eyes bouncing from side to side while the clock face ticked on under a Cheshire grin. It was about 8 p.m. and Selina had a job tonight.

“Welp, it’s bedtime for you mister. Go wash up and head to your bed. I’ll make sure to visit a friend of mine later. She’s pretty good at falsifying paperwork. Get some rest and then tomorrow, you and I can get to work on making that backstory of yours. Gotta make sure we have our story straight for the Feds.” She grinned in a way that could only be called cat-like. Tim smiled and got up, the kitten clinging to his shoulders and purring. He pet her and decided she was sleeping on the bed tonight. Selina tousled his hair and he went to brush his teeth and get dressed whilst Selina suited up for a night as Catwoman.

Tim caught a glimpse of her in the iconic black suit, the kevlar hugging her curves and glittering under the last wisps of sunset. She looked gorgeous and powerful, the steely determination and self assuredness in her burning eyes made them seem like hellfire. It took Tim’s breath away.

_‘One day…’_ He thought to himself just as he slunk back into his room and settled for the night.

_‘One day I’m gonna have my own suit. Then I’ll be just like her.’_


	2. Slice of Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see Tim's daily life and see how history changes. Or- Tim goes to school and maybe accidentally saves Robin's life. Probably.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another disclaimer that I have bad Comic's canon knowledge and I'm mostly winging it. Please enjoy this story with that in mind! Also sorry for the month long wait. I can't manage time.

The case never truly closed. It went cold after a year and the Drakes held a closed casket funeral service for their lost son a half year later. Neither of them stayed through the whole thing and only one of the house keepers, an older gentleman who had worked for the Drakes since Tim’s father was just a young man, had stayed to throw the first bit of dirt on an empty coffin. It seemed as though the only one to whom this case wasn’t completely lost to was Batman. Every few months or so, the Bat would come in with some more evidence detailing possible sightings of Tim Drake in various locations in Gotham. The evidence came in regularly before slowly grinding to a halt after the funeral. Timothy Jackson Drake was officially dead about two years after he disappeared.

In the meantime, Timothy Seth Jones was taken in by Selina Kyle after her sister vouched for her adopting the young man from her monastery. The woman was cleared by the state as being a suitable guardian and, eventually, mother to Timothy and he moved in with her around the same time that Timothy Jackson Drake’s case had been open for half a year. 

Now, Tim was 12 years old and going to middle school in a public school in Gotham’s inner city. Selina had been hesitant but the young boy had been adamant that he get to go to a normal school. He had had it with Gotham Prep. He could also avoid a certain birdie while at this new place. Tim strolled down the halls of his school, making a quick bit of empty minded convo with Ives. He was a nerd with enough geekery to keep up with Tim as he blabbed Ives’ head off with his 99 mph talk of heroes and their impact on social issues both purposeful and incidental. It was nice. He waved his friend off and promised to hang with him and the others later as he made his way towards his homeroom for Ancient History.

At any rate, Tim made his way into his first period, sipping idly on the Dunkin’s he had stopped to get on his way to school. It was an overly sugary concoction of whipped cream, chocolate syrup and pure saccharine filth that always made Selina gag every time she stole a sip from his cup. He sat down near the back but not precisely in the last row of seats. He opened his bag and nibbled on a pumpkin donut as he awaited the first bell to ring. About 5 minutes before homeroom and first period began for the day, his usual desk neighbor took her seat and made a pitiful groaning noise as she did so. Tim felt her plight, though he didn’t voice it. He only had to take a look at her arms whenever she removed her bright purple sweater and know that she’s been having a rough time. He silently passed the bag of his Dunkin’ Donuts to his seat neighbor. She takes it without a word and opens it to find a bag of 6 bagel bites, everything flavored. She nods and gives him a fleeting smile as she stuffs the bites into her mouth fast as the last few minutes before the bell rings tick down.

Tim watched in rapt fascination and horror as the girl scarfed down 6 bagel bites stuffed with cream cheese as the bell rang and he threw out the now empty coffee cup and paper baggies out in the garbage can he appropriated for their area. Roll call was spouted, homework was collected and Tim’s desk neighbor nearly verbally eviscerates their teacher when he brings up the division of territory in the US and only briefly mentions Native American involvement in said divisions. He kinda idolizes her.

The day goes on and he gets ready to go to his next class before lunch when the girl he sits next to kinda nudges his bag with her foot to get his attention. She just gives him a quiet nod and he returns it. Her wild blonde hair swishes behind her in its ponytail as she bounds out the door. Tim zips his bag and gets going to Pre-Algebra. He takes the time that his teacher relegates to working on handouts to nap for a while after he fills out the sheets entirely. His teacher obviously stopped trying to challenge him and figured they’d let him sleep. Growing boys need their cat naps, as Selina would say. Tim gets a good long nap in before he wakes up in time to get pelted by a paper ball. He unwads it and sees Callie’s handwriting over it. She wants to know which cafeteria they should go to for today. He holds up to fingers at her and she nods. 

After that it was time for lunch. They meet up by the staircase leading up to the second floor of the West building. Tim hums as he watches Ariana and Callie bicker over the proper usage of a certain Yu-Gi-Oh card while Ives looks up the actual usage. Ariana’s right in the end and Callie feigns being pissy about it for all of 10 seconds before she breaks into giggles over Ives and his ridiculous faces. Tim doesn’t say much and is content to play observer today. He isn’t feeling up to being verbal. 

Ariana had caught on quickly when she greeted him at the cafeteria in the East building and spent the time gabbing at him with only short pauses for breath and small windows to all him to nod in reply. She and Tim held hands, mostly out of habit, as they waited in line to grab their lunches and book it to the stairs. Tim will never not be grateful for Ari’s presence in his life. She was pretty and sweet and fun to talk to and when they first met it was an insta-crush connection on both ends. One that only lasted a few months before they decided that they were better off friends that only occasionally held hands. He does miss kissing her sometimes. She was good at it.

Soon enough lunch ended and the group headed to their final class. One all of them had together, Language Arts II. Immediately there was a sense of dread as they entered the room because the tables had been arranged into neat tables of 5 in 6 different areas of the classroom. They all chose one table that wasn’t preoccupied and waited for the rest of their class to trickle in. Nearly everyone had chosen tables to sit at except for the blonde that Tim shares his first block of the odd days with. She seems to be debating between their table and another that had two seats open before seemingly choosing the one with the two seats available. But then a couple that is almost always late to this period because they spend the whole of lunch making out in the one bathroom off the library nobody uses sits at that table before her and she resigns herself to their group. The blonde sits down quietly and sends them all an awkward and apologetic smile.

Turns out their teacher is a sadist and is assigning them all different pieces of European fairy tales based on how he numbered their tables and they all have to write a 3 page essay on the story and then act it out. Ives mumbles out some less than stellar words that Tim is pretty sure would’ve gotten him detention if he said them louder and Callie looks done with this project before their teacher has even gotten to their table to give them the instructions packet. He looks to the blonde girl and sees that she is just as disinterested in this as they were. Tim takes his copy of the instructions and they all read over their assigned fairytale. 

Tim almost bursts into laughter. It’s an old Norwegian tale called “The Master Thief”. The absolute irony. He immediately calls dibs on the role of the thief and he isn’t contested. The rest of the period is basically a free period where the others chatted as their teacher caught up on grading. The blonde girl stays silent as she reads over the fairy tale what must be several times while the others speak. Tim watches her from the corner of his eye, taking in how tired she looks.

And then the bell rings and it’s time to go home. Ives says he’s headed to the robotics club and that, as always, Tim was welcome to join him. And, as always, Tim declines the offer. He puts his things away slowly and tells Callie and Ariana to head out without him and that he’ll see them tomorrow. He goes quiet as he glances up the blonde who hasn’t moved from her chair and is idly playing with some of her straw yellow locks.

He offers to walk her home, despite his better judgement telling him to shut up. She declines but just thanks him for the offer and the bagel bites. He tells her not to mention it and then he gives her his name. She gives him hers.

Stephanie.

  
  


~~~~

  
  


Tim looked over his computer screen and read over an article decrying his parents as neglectful for the thousandth time in two years since it first came to light that they were prone to leaving their young son on his own. This particular article was written for his funeral and made a point at hacking at the way that Janet and Jack Drake hardly seemed to be paying much attention during the viewing service and kept pointing out how awful it was that they weren’t even pretending to be sad over the whole thing. Tim just scoffed and rolled his eyes. Of course they didn’t care.

They never did.

Still, he closed the window and finished up his report for English and saved the doc to his flashdrive to print out the next day. He sighed softly and looked up new articles of Batman and Robin sightings from the Gotham Birdwatchers forum and saw that while Selina didn’t have to worry about Bruce and Jason prowling near her potential newest score location, Batgirl has been making a resurgence a little too close by for comfort. Seems like Barbara and Dick aren’t doing too well. Maybe his hanging around the Titans and the rumors Selina says she’s been hearing about him and Starfire are finally putting some doubt in poor old Batgirl’s head. Tim hummed to himself before sending the article off to Selina’s email and finishing up his computer usage for the day with some silly cat videos on youtube.

That reminds him, he’s gotta make a new cat video of the newest addition to their cat hoarding problem. Pumpkin was a fuzzy little runt of a thing, all black fur with dangerous green eyes that truly speaks volumes of his once wild nature. He was also the best for funny cat videos because said wild nature usually ended with him getting stuck in various awkward locations. Last week it was between the couch and one of the side tables and two days ago he found himself stuck in a lampshade with no way down. Thankfully the light bulb was off the whole time so no singed fur was had.

He didn’t plan on making Pumpkin a viral sensation but he knew that Jason Todd, aka Robin, seemed to really like cat videos and also followed his Insta story just so he could watch all the videos Tim’s made of all their cats being otherwise cute or ridiculous. He wasn’t going to deprive his Robin of his cat videos. He deserves a bit of good nowadays, if Selina’s worried murmurs to Ivy and Harley during their monthly mimosa nights were any indication. 

Word on the street was that Robin was getting unruly and rebellious. Only a matter of time before this one flew the nest the same way Nightwing did. Tim frowned as he thought on the implications. If Jason left his position as Robin and eventually saddled off to create his own identity without Bruce then… Well, Bruce would be in the market for a new Robin. Maybe.

It depends on if Bruce will even admit a need for one in the first place. Not that he will. Bruce Wayne, in any of his masks, was many things but he was stubborn in all of them. Tim just hoped that whoever took up the opportunity would work well with him.

He got off his bed and shoved his computer to the side, setting it on his nightstand and stretching for a few minutes before taking a quick shower and dressing in pj’s and making his way to the living room to give his cats all one last goodnight pat on the head. Maybe even film Pumpkin being stuck in something before heading off for the night. Selina was already out tonight, not in costume but definitely not on a girl’s night, either. He headed to the balcony to close the curtains when he spotted something.

Now, Tim knew that he was nosy all hell. It was his greatest flaw, his curiosity. In the future he’ll realize how fitting that flaw was. But right now, this flaw of his made him quietly open the balcony and grab the binoculars he used to go on his night time jaunts into the city to do his own Birdwatching. The fact Selina let that continue after he moved in with her was a miracle of a gift and honestly, that woman owned his soul at this point for how grateful he was to her for all she’s done for him.

But that’s another digression. Tim holds the binoculars up to his face and squints a bit as his eyes adjust to the night vision settings and… Yeah, it’s him.

Robin.

What was that little birdie doing so far away from the big bad Bat at this time? He checked his watch and saw that it was close to 10 p.m. already. He frowned. Batman starts patrolling around that time. Jason should be at the cave getting briefed or whatever they do pre patrol. Tim sighed as the truth of what seemed to have happened finally forms in his head. Jason probably went a little too hard the other night and got benched so now Jason was being a rebellious little teen and was probably just trying to get as far from Bruce’s usual routes in order to get at least an hour of patrol detail in before Bats eventually found him and dragged him to their little hideout by the ear. Tim blew a raspberry and looked at the cats and empty apartment for a few moments. Selina would be back in no less than an hour but if he left to go chase after the retreating back of the renegade Robin he’d definitely be gone for longer.

He settled on sending a text to his mom and letting her know he was going to go Birdwatching and he’d explain it when he got back. He made sure to grab the watch that had the panic button on it and let Selina know he had it too. He got a thumbs up and good luck from her and he smiled as he threw on his black hoodie and jeans quickly. He forwent lacing his shoes with tightening and stuffing the laces into his shoes instead. He took the elevator to the final floor of Selina’s apartment building and climbed the stairs up to the roof. He decided to just roof hop his way in the direction that he saw Jason head and decided that he’d eventually see him if he kept going. 

  
  


He was right. Jason wasn’t even a block away when he found him, beating the hell out of a thug that was harassing some poor lady. He waited a bit as he watched Robin throw a punch that he was sure broke something in the poor perp’s face. He went down after that and the lady had long since left, her purse abandoned on the side of the alley that they were in. Jason simply made a phone call, kept the talking to a minimum, and made sure the purse was in clear view so that the police could search it properly and give it to the owner. Jason did give it a cursory look over and when he didn’t find anything of interest he left it behind and moved to leave the alley. 

Tim shadowed him carefully for a few more blocks before he decided to just head back home and give Selina a false alarm. Batman would find Jason eventually and then he’d just be grounded or something. Not really Tim’s problem at this point. The preteen watched as Jason continued to go about his unusual patrol for a bit longer. Even though Jason was simply brooding and most likely had just gone on the illicit patrol mainly to have something to do, Tim couldn’t help himself. Once a fanboy, always a fanboy. Just cause he knew that the kid behind the mask was a teen with anger issues didn’t mean he stopped worshipping the ground that Robin flew over.

Just as Tim was about to reach the mark where he should really tell Selina everything was okay, Jason suddenly stopped in front of an alley that looked as nondescript as any and immediately ran down it. Tim blinked and scurried after as silently as he could. He hid behind a trash can when he saw Jason speaking to someone near the end of the alleyway. The guy was dressed like the pinnacle of every private eye in those old noir films d-Jack used to like. He listened closely but only heard snippets of conversation due to the duo discussing their affairs in hushed tones.

“... Ethiopian warehouse… Embezzlement most likely, honestly… Catherine in league… Joker…”

Tim stilled. Joker? Oh, this can’t be good. Joker’s been getting more and more violent over the years. According to aunt Harley, Joker’s been getting more unhinged with every day passed. She even sounded kinda shaken about it, honestly. He hopes that aunt Harley leaves him soon. She’s too good for that psycho clown.

Tim takes a quick second to text Selina about his discovery. He doesn’t know who this Catherine lady is or what she’s embezzling over in Ethiopia but it has to be bad news if the Joker is involved. And it sounds like Jason’s gonna try and do this one on his own. Tim wants to believe that his hero would be alright. That he’d be able to fight Joker and win. But something about the whole thing makes a pit open up in Tim’s stomach. He’s not sure if this is a risk he’d be willing to take. 

He checks to see if Jason and his P.I. were still chatting and upon confirmation that, yes, Jason was still writing down what the man was saying, the boy took off into the night. 

Once he was home, Tim sat back and waited. Selina would be home in about 5 minutes according to the text back he got saying that she’d send the info over now and that she’d be home soon. Tim went and laid down in his bed, petting Pumpkin and others as they all gathered on his mattress and purred to him. Selina walked into his room quietly and patted his head.

“Did you remember to take your blockers today?” She asked him and he nods to her. Tim never skips a day of taking his puberty blockers.

“We can talk about what you overheard from those two tomorrow. Sleep well, kiddo.” She gives him a kiss on the forehead and walks out of the room and closes the door tight behind her. He smiles at that.

He turns onto his side, looks up and out his window into the starless Gotham night and wonders if he made the right call. He usually stays away from the heroics element of Gotham city. Sure, he still Bird Watches and yeah he likes to read and maybe even write blogs about the socioeconomic and political impact of heroes on the working class and poor of their city but he’s never done this. He’s never… Uh.

Tim gulped as the wave of adrenaline washes over him. Okay. Maybe he might do that more often.

Oh great. Now he can’t sleep. Stupid adrenal response mechanisms.


	3. A Stray Is Born

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim finally dips his toes in the water and decides he wants to take the plunge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still working on a very sparse well of Comics canon knowledge here. Luckily I have been affirmed that DC canon is horrible and I can mostly wing it. So yeah. also-  
> https://i.pinimg.com/originals/85/9c/80/859c80f73cee5a80d5fa958d15343ca0.jpg Tim’s outfit!!! I know nothing about fashion but you know w h a t i dig what eugene was put in when the try guys wore those outfits designed by high school girls like he could Get It. anyhow, that’s how i think tim would dress once he got older. This was a one time thing to make him seem older than he was since he was in a… non-kid friendly place. Also, link to the video im talking about- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pc1kON-doU

He’s convinced Callie and Ariana to join Wizards and Warlocks night with him and Ives since their last group fell apart over a homebrew that Tim refused to ok. Look man, that +3 Dragon Armor was _way_ too OP for the one-shot and would’ve sucked the fun out of the whole game. Tim is never going to move on that stance and Ives had backed him up on that. He was a real G, that guy. 

He briefly wonders if Stephanie would’ve liked to join but puts it aside. He and her barely know one another. But maybe, maybe in the future? He hopes he can be friends with the blonde. She looked like she could use one. 

Kinda like he did.

Anyways, Tim sets them up with some character sheets. Ariana’s filling the role of their Barbarian while Callie sets herself up as a Druid. Ives repurposes his old Ranger into a Sorcerer and has this look on his face that makes Tim think he’s going to have fun ruining all of Tim’s carefully crafted campaign plotlines by being an absolute gremlin IC. Tim flashes him a challenging smirk that dares Ives to fucking try him. The guy makes a couple of back up characters after that. He always ends up needing them anyhow.

Tim’s night gets somewhat derailed when they’re talking more in depth about the campaign and the general world they’ll be playing in. Ives had been suggesting a West Marches/Dungeon Crawler hybrid of sorts when Tim’s phone goes off. He excuses himself to go read the alert he got from the personalized app he made for himself that monitors a bug on Selina’s suit that tracks her vitals. Looks like she was injured according to general blood pressure and trauma tracking. He pulled up the GPS to see where she was and found her blip was situated nicely over the Gotham Museum of Renaissance Art. He double checked the vitals and weighed his options. He tosses a glance towards the living room from where he was hiding in the small hallway. Ariana called out to him, asking if everything was fine. 

A deep breath found its way into his lungs and he wondered if this was it. Selina’s dot moved across the screen again as he zoomed more on the museum and he bit his lip. Help his mom out first, Debate if this will help him prove his case to her later. He looked back to the living from where he stood semi hidden in the kitchen and called out to his friends.

“Hey guys? I think I might need to cut it early today. Something came up with my mom.” Ives gripes a bit about timing and Callie does Tim the solid of smacking the moron upside the head. Ariana pats his shoulder on the way out after they all pack up and tells him to let Selina know she said hi. 

Selina loved Ariana. She was so relieved to hear that they decided to stay friends after the break up. Tim watches her leave with Callie and Ives, his phone in hand as he made sure to get them an Uber home. Once they disappeared into the private elevator that led to their penthouse Tim was on the move. He reached for his Laptop, turned on his program that let him tap into a comm system in Selina’s goggles and cowl. He put his gaming headphones on and started speaking.

“Talk to me, Cat. What’s the sitch?” He asks as he brings up a schematic of the blueprints of the museum. He tallies up the different exits and then pulls up video feeds in a separate window to see what they were working with. He scowls at the way Selina pants in his ears. She was probably really hurt.

“Oh no-” Selina tries to chastise him for getting more involved than he was allowed to be but Tim just pointed out her hurt state and how there were gunmen all over the place. He could help, if just this once. She just grumbles something about smart kittens and then gives in.

“Two-Face and his goons made a surprise visit. Turns out that there’s a dual gemmed trinket in here he was itching to, ugh, have.” She hisses and then there’s some shouting and pained groans.

“Fuck, and tonight of all nights too. Guh, must’ve been a spur of the moment decision since I hadn’t heard anything about it.” Translation, Auntie Harls didn’t hear any gossip from anyone in her circle. Tim maps out a path that had the least amount of Two-Face’s men in it. 

“Take the next right and follow the paintings. You’ll see a Y split. Take the left. We’ll get you out of there. Did you get what you were aiming for?” Various Native American burial masks and totems stolen from burial mounds that were to be sent to the tribes they originally belonged to. They already had a contact to help tangle the exchange in enough legal jargon and loopholes that the museum would need to spend more than they paid to get the artifacts in the first place. A small win, all things considered, but a win nonetheless.

He listens to Selina confirm she was able to nab the items before this all went to shit. A particularly big looking hired gun was about to turn the corner and he managed to get Selina to cover before he saw her. Once she was getting close enough to the exit he checked the other feeds and cursed when he saw Batman knock a tooth out of one Two-Face’s men while Robin backed him up.

Saying as much to Selina, the woman curses and sighs. “Can’t let him see me. After all, I haven’t had the chance to gussy up.”

Tim snorts at her joke and she manages to slip out. As she does, he goes back to the feeds and starts his work to loop and edit her out of the stills and videos. He’s been getting better at that. He remembers when Selina hadn’t wanted to get him involved, had just wanted to give him a semi-stable home with an adult that cared. He also remembers how his stubbornness not only made her throw her hands up in exasperation but also how her stubbornness had him pouting when he was only allowed to do things like hack feeds and edit her out. Nothing more. 

Something that Selina knew well enough to do on her own. He got the reasoning though, less chances he’d be tried and sent to juvie if she were ever caught for reals. Not like she ever would be.

Well, maybe he’ll prove he’s got enough to play with the big boys. Even if just from the comfort of his own room. 

“Okay, well, get out of there quick. It’s only a matter of time before Br-Batman and Robin realize Two-Face wasn’t the only one busy tonight.” He warns and he can see her on the new feed from one of the outside cameras as she pulls herself through a vent opening. He can clearly see she’s been grazed by a bullet or knife, the left side of her suit torn a bit and bleeding. He bites his lip and tries to think of something to buy her more time. He looks through the systems of the museum’s security and finds that some of the sound alarms are separated by what section of the museum they’re in. He sets off the one in the Southern section, away from Selina in the North, and hopes that Bruce and Jason take the bait.

Selina’s at the edge of the roof now and is parkouring her way to safety and a clear getaway. Tim sighs in relief, watching the feeds to see that they did take it. He’s glad. He really didn’t want Jason to see Selina. According to her, the Robin had been pissed he’d been found out by her and was being particularly brutal with the criminals after he was unbenched by Bruce. The tween takes his headphones off and wonders for a moment if he should try hacking into the city cameras to check her route home. He hadn’t seen Barbara Gordon flipping around as Batgirl but that could be because she was busy with the Birds of Prey. Nightwing was still in Blüdhaven according to Dick Grayson’s social media accounts. Last he checked, he had a date tonight. Hopefully that was still true.

About 20 minutes passed before Tim heard the door to the penthouse open. He scrambled to Selina’s side and helped her onto the couch, towels and trash bags draped over it and the rug under it to keep the blood off. He cleaned her up and she mumbled a thank you as their army of cats slipped out from hiding under the couch and in their rooms to curl up around Selina as Tim stitched her up.

They only seemed to like him and Selina. It made Callie burst into tears over the revelation.

Once the blood was cleaned and he threw the towels in the laundry and the trash bags down the garbage chute, he patted Pumpkin’s head. The cat had decided to cuddle up to him and nuzzle into his side. Probably sensed his worry for Selina’s health.

Speaking of, she groans and manages to move herself to standing carefully enough to not jostle her stitches. The thief takes a breath in and looks at Tim with a small, pained smile. “What would I do without you, kitten?” 

“Probably get your butt thrown in jail.” Tim jokes and she just laughs shallowly, still in pain. He helps her to her bed and she sighs.

“Gonna have to move the date for the exchange to later. I won’t be healed up in time to meet with the guy tomorrow.” She pouts a bit and he bites his lip. Maybe… But then-

“I could go. Tell him that you got hurt and I’m doing it for you?” Selina looks at him with hesitation. She didn’t want to involve him. She never wanted to involve him. The little he does now is already a huge risk to his future.

She can see it in his eyes, though. Selina sees how he wants to help, how he wants to prove to her that keeping him, making him her son was worth her while. As if him being a normal boy wasn’t enough. As if Tim wasn’t enough. She will never stop cursing the Drakes for what they did to this poor boy. Selina sighs in defeat. Okay. Okay.

“I’ll call him. You’ll need a disguise. Something high profile enough to serve as being low profile for where you’re going.” Selina says and Tim’s smile almost makes this feel like the right decision. Almost.

~~~~

  
  


So, apparently, he can really rock the androgynous, queer chic look well. The skin tight no sleeve high neck shirt he wore under the short black coat with the patterned tights under the ripped light blue shorts and platform sneakers. The outfit was largely monochrome in black with the shirt being a darker grey and the coat having a single pop of color with an orange V-shape. It was just revealing enough to be a believably adult outfit without making him too uncomfortable. He adjusted his binder under the shirt a bit and ignored the glances thrown his way as he walked down Gotham’s infamous red light district. 

He kept his head held high and walked like he had a purpose, eyes hiding behind dark aviators as the sun hung low in the late afternoon sky. His grip on the suitcase holding the goods tightened. He strutted into a bar that was only just starting to open for the nightlife to trickle in. It was pretty exclusive and Tim flashed a fake ID and recommendation from Selina at the bouncer and he took a seat at the bar instead of lounging by the booths. There were 3 other people in the bar at the moment. A couple of important looking men in suits that Tim barely remembered from the times he went to the Wayne Galas, both with and without his parents, and a woman sipping on a fruity looking drink at the end of the bar. 

The bartender asks what he’ll have and he says a simple soda would do fine. He wasn’t here to get drunk. The woman nods and serves him a cold grape Zesti in a fancy looking glass. The ice here was in the shape of cubes with indents on their surfaces. He took a couple sips and the woman got up from her seat and took her drink with her. She walked down the length of the bar and Tim saw her own identical suitcase. She was a pretty lady with sharp cheekbones and a tightly coiffed hairstyle that made Tim think of old timey photos of glamorous beauty stars from the 40’s and 50’s. Her dark skin and coal black eyes fell on Tim’s suitcase and she offered him a smile.

“Monsieur.” She greeted, with her hand extended towards him. He took it and kissed the back on the ring Selina told him to kiss. The woman sat beside him and placed her suitcase next to his.

“Cat told me that she’d be sending someone in her place. She alright?” Her voice was deep and luxurious. Like the decadent chocolates Janet used to indulge in whenever Jack wasn’t looking. He eased her worries over Selina’s injury and they spent a few minutes talking before he glanced at his empty phone screen.

“I have to go. It was wonderful meeting you, ma’am.” He nods and she smiled.

“Call me Jolie when I’m dressed this way, mon ami.” Jolie tells him and he smirks at her. 

“Alright. See you around, Mms. Jolie.” She laughs at his attempt to butter her up and proclaims that Selina absolutely had to bring him by on their next tea date. Tim grabbed the briefcase that she had brought over and smiled at her. They bid their last adieus and Tim was off, slipping into the slowly growing crowd of Gotham’s pleasure district.

He managed to make it halfway home when he was grabbed from behind. His first instinct, drilled into him by Selina, was to scream. Which he did until a hand covered his mouth. He made sure to be as fussy and squirmy as possible, his attacker trying hard to get him to hold still and cursing when he wouldn’t. Tim felt the guy grab onto his coat and he slipped out of it while the guy stumbled back from the loss of an anchor. He looked to where he dropped the empty decoy suitcase and made a break for it.

Tim heard the guy regain his balance and yell at him in a slurring voice. Probably drunk or super high. Definitely wasted. He was just about to make into the street when a familiar sound made him twirl around in an instant. His eyes went wide and his jaw dropped as he watched Jason Todd in the robin colors beat the snot out of the dude. Tim blinked as blood coated the green gauntlets of Jason’s uniform and the scarlet of his tunic. Tim glanced down to Jason’s bare legs and Tim couldn’t help the snort of amusement he let out.

Unfortunately, it grabbed Jason’s attention. He dropped the now unconscious attacker and Tim froze. Shit. Jason and him hadn’t really talked in those old charity galas Bruce and the Drakes dragged them to and he was currently hoping that the limited times he faced Jason would keep the teen from figuring out who he was even in the outfit and under a layer of face changing make-up and brown contacts.

Jason squinted at Tim from under his mask, if the way the domino and his brow furrowed was any indication. Robin then muttered something unintelligible and thrusted fabric into Tim’s chest. Tim starts at this and clutches at the mystery item before realizing it’s his coat. He blinks.

“Oh. Thank you-” He looks up and Robin is gone. Tim wills his heart to slow down and he goes to grab the suitcase, because Jolie is probably gonna want it back soon, and makes it home fine. 

The entire walk back to the penthouse had him in a daze and soon he was facing down the inside of the private elevator to his home.

He steps into the penthouse, the place shrouded in darkness as Selina naps on the couch under a soft throw blanket. Their cats are all curled up by her or around the various surfaces and Tim drops the coat on the rack before sitting on the armchair that’s been designated his armchair and thinks about what happened and all that has been happening. He’s shaking a little and wonders why he wants to keep feeling this adrenaline rush. Is he an adrenaline junkie? Is he just a normal Gothamite because what was a Gotham native if not someone with a death wish and enough chaotic dumbass energy to go for it? Tim sighed and looked at the ceiling.

Selina finds him like that 5 minutes later, his loud thinking waking her from her slumber. She looks at his disheveled state and nudges him with her foot. He blinks, looks at her, and opens his mouth.

“I want in.”

Selina stares at him. She searches his face for any kind of uncertainty she can to keep him away. She doesn’t want this life for him. He doesn’t need to be a part of it. But maybe…

Her resolve slowly fades as she fails to find even a hint of doubt. Maybe he doesn’t  _ need  _ it but he sure as hell  **wants** it and she can’t remember, in the last two years of knowing him, ever hearing him say he wanted something to her face without being poked and interrogated into saying so and then wrapping the words up in ‘but it’s not necessary’s and ‘but you don’t have to’s. It makes her want to scream and seriously force Bruce into researching exactly what is in the water in this city, god dammit! She breathes in and hopes to God this isn’t a mistake.

“You’re gonna need a name.”

  
  


~~~~

  
  


Bruce stares at the screen with a glare as his grip on the mug he held tightened. Jason stands besides him, arms crossed and nearly snarling at the screen. Not a surprise given that the bruise to his cheek was the product of the newest addition to their rogues gallery. Tonight was the first night that he’d been seen by anyone and he was already gearing up to be a problem wrapped in the same leather as his mentor. Though, his was less provocative.

Bruce’s normal interactions with Catwoman were already charged enough when it was just himself and her. Now that she’s bringing her own partner onto the scene he can’t help but wonder just how more friction that’ll create. 

Especially because of how old he seemed and how he seemed to grate on Jason’s nerves in a way that Bruce was all too familiar with. Though the teen didn’t seem to be having the secondary reaction that would tell Bruce if he’d have to worry about a burgeoning attraction on his Robin’s part. Nothing there yet and he hopes it stays that way. Jason was too young, in his eyes at least, for that crap. And Cat’s new little helping hand seemed even younger.

And wasn’t that just the biggest problem Bruce had with all this? Yes, he is all too aware of just how hypocritical this made him but  _ still _ . Catwoman had always complained and hissed at Bruce for his Robins, and Batgirl, on more than one occasion. Something was obviously going on here.

For now, Bruce tried to look for a tell in the darkly dressed child that could help him figure out who was under the neon orange goggles and the cat-eared aviation cap. He felt his lips curl in frustration when he couldn’t find anything. He should’ve known it wouldn’t be this easy; it was Cat we were talking about. She had this way of misdirection that left him disoriented no matter how hard he tries to stay vigilant around her.

It’s probably why he still doesn’t know her name, after all.

“B, let’s go up already. Alfie’s probably two seconds away from dragging us by our ears back upstairs.” Jason grunts and spares the screen a final heated glare before huffing and making his way to the lockers. Bruce watches him walk off and sighs.

He’s glad Jaylad was talking to him again. After the disaster that was the almost trip to Ethiopia and the event that was Joker paralyzing Barbara a few months after, he counted himself lucky that at least one of those things was semi resolved. The idea that it could’ve been Jason in that warehouse  _ with _ Sheila in the end… 

Well, he was just glad Jaylad was still here at all.

He lets the computer go to sleep mode and goes to shower and change into acceptable clothes that won’t make Alfred want to ground them both. Jason was showering and Bruce went into the next stall over and by the time he had finished and gotten dressed, Jason had beaten him upstairs and was enjoying a late night snack Alfred had prepared. Bruce took one of the tiny finger sandwiches and let his hand fall onto Jason’s head where he absently pet him as he ate and thought.

“He’s in over his head.” Jason says suddenly and Bruce nods. 

“Yes, he is.” Bruce plopped another sandwich into his mouth. Jason scowled.

“He fights like a girl.” He continues.

“Jason.” Bruce chastises him. Jason shook his head and dislodged Bruce’s hand.

“No, I mean, he fights like Cat does.” He reiterates and Bruce nods. It’s a given he’d fight like the person that, Bruce is sure, taught him to fight.

“It’s… Stupid.” Jason’s cheeks are gaining the familiar red that makes Bruce feel like he’s aged 15 years. Looks like he spoke too soon. He hopes to God this stays some unrealized childhood fancy. But, just in case.

“Jaylad…” Bruce starts and Jason is looking at him weirdly. “I know we had this Talk already but I think maybe I should reiterate-”

“Nope.” Jason absconds with half the sandwiches in his arms and immediately books it to his room. Bruce pops another sandwich into his mouth and thanks God for awkward teenagers. He was not ready to give the gay version of the talk so damn soon.


	4. Spoilers Abound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie Brown hates her father so much. But she can't let it show, not if she wants to stay on his good side. But still, she will make him pay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry?? this is kinda late and all but uuuh, here? It's Steph's turn for the spotlight and she was honestly fun to write. She's kinda angry and angsty for a lot of this chapter but that's not gonna last. I think the next chapter or two are gonna be Steph centric with like one or two POV switches to Tim and others. Enjoy!

Stephanie Brown hated her father. She hated him with all her being and she wanted nothing but for that deadbeat to get his just deserts. She holes up in her room, silently waiting for the tell-tale signs that Arthur Brown had arrived for a visit in between heists with baited breath. She wants so badly to have an excuse to taser his balls. She has it at the ready on her desk as she mindlessly solves equations on her math sheet. She doesn’t bother trying to check her work, she knows it won’t matter anyways. When the fuck is she ever gonna use linear equations in her life anyhow?

The house is silent for a few more hours and she hears her mother knock on the door, saying dinner is in the fridge when she’s hungry before retiring to bed. She’s had a long 72 hours of work back in the clinic. Steph’s shoulders sagged and she looked down at her language arts homework. She saved it for last since it was the most tedious. Just a simple essay on the new novel they’re reading this quarter and it’s so boring. She would’ve just taken the F and not done it but they were in groups now. For the rest of the year. Hooray!   
  


God, high school was unbearable.

She chewed on her lip as she stood up. The group she’s working with for the rest of the year are all strangers to her. Except Tim. She made her way out of her room and down the hall to the kitchen. She takes dinner out of the fridge, chicken and waffles, and reheats it. She blinks at the microwave as her chicken reheats and listens to the toaster tick while her waffles get the same treatment. 

“Tim Kyle…” Steph lets the name roll off her tongue, tasting it to see how it feels. 

He brings her donuts whenever he comes in late. Tim will laugh at her jokes and silently cheer her on when she’s sassing the hell out of their racist homeroom teacher. He seems decent. She thinks about that one guy from her middle period today. He keeps hitting on her and he’s a total sleaze and her dad would  _ hate _ his guts.

If he ever noticed him when he got home.

Steph scowled and took her chicken out of the microwave and popped her waffles early. They’re not cold but not as warm as she likes them. She covers her dinner in copious amounts of sticky maple syrup and forks it into her mouth with more than a little roughness. She hates her father. 

She’s finished her chicken and waffles and washes her plate while still fuming over Arthur fucking Brown. That asshole can go to hell for all she cares. He’s never done anything for her and her mom. Jackass was a pathetic, wannabe crime boss that had to steal  _ Riddler’s _ schtick because he couldn’t find one of his own. Steph scowled as she made her way back to her room. She only just barely stopped herself from slamming the door of her room as she shut it.

She cast a look down at her nearly done essay and just tossed it into her English binder. Whatever. She can finish the necessary first draft tomorrow. After that she’s just gonna copy all of it into a google doc and print it at the library. She doesn’t want to spend too much time on this whole thing. School doesn’t matter, not when she doesn’t see herself having much of a future anyways. Steph shakes her head.

No, that kind of thinking will get her mom to send her to therapy. Again.

She goes to lie in her bed and stares out the window into Gotham’s moonlit night. The pollution wasn’t so bad for once and you could kinda see the light of a few brighter stars. She stares at the sky and wishes she could do something, anything, to make her dad pay for being the worst. He deserves it. He deserves every second he’d get of her retribution. Her hands clutch at her sheets and her gaze hardens. 

Then, she sees it. Her inspiration and ticket to finally making Arthur Brown pay.

On the rooftops across her apartment, shrouded in shadows and barely noticeable unless you were actually looking for them, were the familiar silhouettes of Batman and Robin. It looked like there was a fight going on. She quickly jumped out of her bed and ran to her window, squinting into the dark to try and make out more than dark outlines of bodies tossing around and the glint of light off the metal of their weapons.

She opened her window slightly and heard a faint trill of mocking laughter, vicious and lined with steel thorns. She watched intently and then saw it. There, in the shadows, slinking about and dodging the dynamic duo with ease, was Catwoman.

No one knew who she was behind her goggles and cowl. The dark grey of her suit hiding nothing of her shapely figure from sight but keeping her face from ever being fully revealed. She is everything all the women in Gotham silently wish they could be. Sexy, strong, and unafraid to go toe to toe with a man that incites fear in the hearts of Demigods.

In her near blind worship of Catwoman, she almost misses the other figure darting about and making the night hell for the Bat and his partner. Steph’s eyes stray away from her for a single second to watch what Robin was doing and finds herself stuck on the image.

The Bat’s bird is being held down on the roof’s concrete under a light near the corner, away from the near animalistic fight of Batman and Catwoman and his assailant is someone she’s never seen nor heard of. She watches as dark black leather wraps the slim figure up and the fiery orange of the figure’s lenses glinted in the low, flickering light. It made them look like a demon. The glow of their skin was deathly and it looked like they were wearing something like an aviation cap instead of the cowl that Catwoman used. 

“She got a sidekick?” It was confusing, she thought. The rumors said that Catwoman had been even more proficient in avoiding capture recently. Plenty of people thought she had gotten herself a ‘guy in the chair’ but it looks like it wasn’t only true but they also weren’t being relegated to that chair any more. Steph watched them, captivated by how they managed to make Robin grovel under their heel before flipping off and away. She looked back to where Catwoman and Batman had been fighting to see that Catwoman had moved to the next roof. Her assistant followed and Batman and Robin gave chase. 

She took a few steps back and sat on the chair to her desk. She felt dazed and confused, staring blankly at her floor. There was a new player in Gotham and they just helped Catwoman make the Bat and his Bird look like fools. 

Slowly, she cracked a smile. Her grin grew wider as her body shook with barely controlled laughter. Without waking up her mother, Stephanie turned on the light to her desk and pulled out a blank sheet of lined paper. She started drawing crudely on the paper in glittering purple gel pen, a mock approximation of her own visage, and then added to it. 

A cape, a mask, some boots and gloves.

Stephanie looked at her finished product. It was an amateur’s work, to be sure. She didn’t care. The simple meaning, the possibilities of what her drawing conveyed was what really mattered to her. She couldn’t stop smiling, nearly in tears.

“I wonder what I should call myself…” She mused to herself out loud as she lay the paper down and looked back out her window. Gotham won’t know what hit her and neither would Cluemaster.

  
  


~~~

  
  


Stephanie is distracted all throughout her school period. She blows off the sleaze ball who kept flirting with her and ignored the vapid girls that she would spend lunch with. She kept adding to her new costume as the day went on, getting rid of each older design by riping the drawings apart and tossing the confetti into the trash. She couldn’t risk someone seeing her make the designs and make the connection when she inevitably gets photographed as her new persona later. 

A persona she’s yet to actually name. She’s been playing with some bird themed names but finds herself unable to think of one that wasn’t already taken or wasn’t just utterly lame. She scowls as she crosses out another name and sighs.

“What else…” She resists chewing on her pen as she vaguely listens to their teacher lecture them on something that she didn’t care about. She taps her pen against the paper of names and looks up for a moment to rake her eyes around the room. She glances at the door and sees Tim walk by briefly. She blinks and goes to raise her hand but thinks twice.

She’s not sure why, but seeing him so briefly through the window of the door was very familiar. She frowned but shrugged it off anyways. She looked back down to her paper and kept doodling away. Maybe a helmet under the hood? Nah, it’d be too clunky and hard to get off then. 

  
  
  


~~~

  
  


Stephanie went home in good spirits. Her doodles of her hero persona in her bag and safely stashed in her notebooks for school. She skipped as she walked up the steps to her apartment and hummed to a song that she heard once on someone’s playlist during lunch last week. She’s never been this happy after school before. It’s kinda fun, exciting really, to have something besides a worn out mother and cold, lonely dinners. 

She gets to her door and goes to unlock it when she freezes.

“Dammit Arthur!” She heard her mother yell and Steph clenched her fist tight. What was  _ he _ doing here? He wasn’t allowed near their home unless it was for a scheduled visit with his daughter.

“Listen Crystal, I’m just here for a few minutes. I was in the neighborhood and wanted a chance to visit my little girl before I have to get back to work.” Work?  _ Hah _ ! That man hasn’t worked since he fucked up being a game host!!

“Work? What work? You mean another fucking heist, right? Get the fuck out of this house and come back during the hour that the judge set!” Her mother must be crashing hard from her high. She only starts cursing like that when she’s itching to swallow some more pills.

  
  


Her dad must’ve picked up on it too. “What’s wrong Crystal? Not high enough to deal with me? You druggie bitch, I should just take Stephanie with me! At least then she’d have someone that isn’t medicated 24/7.” 

Steph tensed at that. He couldn’t- “Oh right, like any court would give custody to some jailbird prison bitch that runs around in a fucking halloween costume like a  _ lunatic _ and gets punched by a fucking mental patient in a bat suit!”

That’s enough. She goes to open the door and slams it against the wall to get their attention. Both her parents start at the sudden intrusion and she doesn’t bother to look up at them as she walks in, closes the door forcefully behind her and toes off her shoes. She leaves them by her mom’s nurse’s shoes and finally looks up at them. They were silently glaring at one another before glancing at her and her mother puts on a forced, strained smile while her dad just looks relieved that she’s looking at him. She clenches her hand on her bag strap but forces herself to look concerned.

“Hey daddy. I didn’t know you’d be here so early!” She looks at her mom and she just shakes her head. Her dad comes up to her and hugs his daughter tight. Stephanie forces herself to not tense up and hugs him back. She pats his back and tries to keep the vitriol down. Arthur pulls away and brushes her hair out of her face. 

“Thought I’d surprise you, just this once Stephie.” She hates that stupid nickname. It’s so lazy.

“It’s nice to see you, daddy.” She wants to vomit. But unless she and her mother want to stay safe, she’ll keep on pretending to be daddy’s little girl. For now.

Her mother disappears into the kitchen and she hears bags rustling. She must have bought dinner tonight. Steph takes a moment to calm down as Arthur’s phone rings and he steps into the hall with a ‘quick sec, Stephie’ to answer it. Probably one of his goons or something. The teen shook her head as she went to set her things down by the couch and the glass coffee table was filled with scattered papers and books in an instant.

She decided she’d try to get a little homework done out in the living room to keep her parents from arguing anymore than they already have. As she absently fills in her workbook for history, she hears her dad arguing on the phone. He sounds irritated and put-out. That’s much more interesting than memorizing dates.

Listening in and silently giggling at her father’s frustrations, a certain phrase caught Stephanie’s mind as her father cursed at his underling on his phone.

“-and if this next shipment gets fucked up by those Bats I swear ta God, I’ll kill ya myself! No, I don’t care if it’ll just spoil all the fun! Either do this like we planned or I’m shoving my foot so far up yer ass, you’ll be shitting knock off Nike logos for a week!” That was a weird fucking threat but…

“Spoil…” She looks down at her notebook where she keeps the design for her costume safe. She wonders to herself for a long moment before she takes the paper with her designs on it out for a swift second, ears on high alert as she quickly scribbles the word ‘Spoil’ with a question mark next to it. She shoves the paper back into its notebook and continues on with her homework. Arthur walks back into the room and gives his daughter a quick kiss to the top of the head before sitting on the couch next to her. A smile stretched on her lips as she made, forced, small talk with her father. He helped her answer a few things and Steph is vaguely aware of the fact half the answers he’s given her are blatantly wrong. 

Christ, he calls himself the fucking Cluemaster and he can’t even answer 8th Grade Maths problems. Steph just barely restrained herself from grinding her teeth to dust. Her mother called them to the table for dinner after a bit and Stephanie bore the passive aggressive silence until her plate was empty and she was able to retreat to her room after her father finally said goodbye. He left with a kiss to her forehead and a small wave that she returned for less than a second before shutting the door and bolting her sanctuary.

Her mother didn’t bother running after her. Steph dumped her papers and books on her desk and took out the drawing she wrote on. The word stared at her as she tapped her mechanical pencil against the lined sheet of paper.

She tried to make it less drab and gross sounding, adding an -ette at the end and deciding that ‘Spoilette’ was both too gendered and stupid. She erased it and then added an -a to the end of her potential hero name. Spoila? No, it sounds dumb and also kinda offensive. She needed it to be something that could really strike fear into the hearts of Gotham’s criminal scum but also be approachable to the general public.

She blinked and said spoila out loud a couple of times to herself.

“Spoila. Spoila? Sspoooiiiiillluuuuuhh.” She hummed and then erased the -a.

“What about…” She wrote an -er and looked at the word that sat next to her costume design in pretty curled penmanship.

“Spoiler. Hm, not bad.” She smirked as she looked down to her new alias and set her paper down. She went to her closet and pulled out miscellaneous shirts, pants and a blanket from the very back. They all varied in shades of purple and Steph tossed them all to the floor of her room. She rummaged the drawers of her desk and pulled out a basic sewing kit. She grabbed her phone and suit design and sat down, opening the Youtube app and looking up videos on sewing.

She pricked her fingers a lot that night and when she got to school late the next day, Tim would offer her half of his coffee as she nearly face planted during a test in first period. She gladly takes it and teases him about his basic bitch taste in coffee. His response is to look scandalized and call her a heathen for not liking pumpkin spice.

  
  


~~~

  
  


Spoiler looks out at the city below her, her apartment building’s roof beneath her feet and she whispers a prayer that her mom doesn’t wake up to her daughter not in her bed tomorrow morning. Taking a step forward, Spoiler looks at the close by roof of another building and launches herself onto it. She lands wobbly and almost faceplants but it’s the coolest fucking thing she’s ever done.

Her mask itched and she adjusted it somewhat. She’s careful not to let it slip past her face as she tugs on the part where the fabric scratched her nose. She has no idea what to do now but Spoiler can bet that if she just wanders around a few low rooftops or hangs onto some fire escapes, trouble will find its way to her.

She cracks the knuckles in her fists and her grin is vicious as she takes another running leap to the next roof over, lower still and with a fire escape to use in case she needs to get to the ground. Spoiler keeps an ear out for any tell tale signs of Bats and Birds  and maybe Cats.  It’s only after she gets 4 more buildings away from her starting point that she finally runs into something that looks worth her time.

Blending into the shadows above, she watches and waits as a man loiters in an alleyway. Her waiting pays when another man enters, a body struggling in his arms as he drags someone into the alley with him. They exchange barely intelligible words and Spoiler is on them before the newcomer could uncover their victim’s mouth to let them scream.

It was two men the size of her father against one of her, but like hell was she gonna let the poor girl, and it was a girl that seemed younger than herself, get hurt by these two fuckwads. The initial start of the fight saw her get the drop on the lurker and kick his head in as she landed. His buddy was too shocked to move for a moment and in his paralysis, dropped the girl and she managed to slip between his legs before bolting out the alley. Spoiler was proud of her first save but realized a second after that she still had the two jackasses to deal with when the kidnapper of the two tried swinging at her. It missed her by a centimeter and she was still kicked in the back by the dude she had downed earlier. Revenge was a bitch.

She grunted and quickly spun around to face her opponents. She was just about to rush them when the sound of light chuckles made them all pause. In a flurry of movement that made Spoiler’s head spin, both her perps were down and each had a firm, booted foot pressed against their backs. 

Spoiler looked up and stared at her own orange tinted reflection in the goggles of the first newest addition to Gotham’s nightlife.

  
“Hiya. Name’s  Stray. Mind telling me why you tried to pick a fight with a couple of serial killers?”


End file.
